I was fascinated to come across
the web site on WRAN's history. I was a
resident of Randolph and graduated high
school in '74. Back in the later '60s I
would pedal my bike up to the station in the
dark when it would open and play in the
production studio. I was also known to start
a record or two when the morning DJ was in
the production studio working.
What got me going to the station was
DJ Ted Radio (pronounced Ray dough).
He started the Little People's Club. I was
the treasurer and the dues were one jelly
bean a year. It created a little people
following for the station. There was a
station ID jingle that used me. Great fun
for a kid.
When I would visit
the area over the years I would tune in to
see what 1510 would bring. Quite different
through the years to say the least. And
finally driving by one time to see a studio
in the weeds. Sad.
The pictures are great. I remember
the board and cart machines. Old stuff but
it worked.
Thanks for the web site
memories.
Craig
The following material was used to help sell
advertising time on the station:
Who knew Mr. Spock was a DJ at WRAN? ;)
Tony writes: The photo was taken in the WRAN
production studio, not the air studio. We
were all visiting Schneider that night. For some reason,
I felt inspired to cut a promo for him. It really
was a great promo... clocks ticking, alarm bells,
ducks quacking, babies crying, reverse reverb of
Schneider's name, and some bohunk rocker shouting "rock
and roll!"... Gene used it for the rest of his run at
RAN.
I was at NBC for most if not all of 76 and perhaps 75
as well. Immediately before that, I was working
part-time at WQIV in NY (around 74-75) and earlier at
WXLO from June 73 to sometime in 74. The photo was
taken in June of 1975.
My spotty run at WRAN began around 1969. It was
the week after Woodstock, whenever that was. I was
working at WDHA on alternate shifts with some other dj
who went to the festival and never returned, forcing me
to work without relief. Pete Arnow and Bob Linder
were out of town for several days and could not be
reached. No other employee was available. I got
fed up, quit, and signed the station off in the middle
of the afternoon. DHA's morning dj, who happened to drop
in to loot the record library in the absence of
management, reluctantly put the station back on about an
hour later. By that time, I was already on the air
at WRAN. ... I was back at WRAN the next summer but no
air shifts were available. Instead, Al Wunder hired me
to paint the building. At some later point,
probably in 71 or 72, Wunder fired me for playing an
unauthorized song. He called me at home to
tell me my services would no longer be
required. I refused to accept that and
immediately drove to the station to argue with
him. He ended up offering me my job back...
He agreed, ... probably out of the realization that he'd
have to go back on the air himself to fill my shift.
Here's more from Randy, who
was Chief Engineer of WRAN during the Lion
Broadcasting days and, as he indicates below,
briefly for Media Horizons...
I lasted about a year or a little
more after the change. I think Media bought in
'68 or '69. Dave Homlund was there under
both. If he's still with us and anyone knows
where, he could help. Art Lewis also was there
at the transition. Is he still around?
Noticing the studio pix... When I
left we had turned the console 90 degrees to the
left so that the operator could see (a) the news
booth, (b) the transmitter room, and (c) out into
the lobby so nobody could sneak up on him. It
was that way for at least acouple of years before I
left. Evidently someone turned it back.
I note the utility box with the
rotary switches on it under the cart
machines. I built that for the 'phone
system. It was just after Carterphone, and we
wanted to be able to air 'phone calls without the
horrendous BEEEP that had been required up until
then. Each switch was on one 'phone line, for
a total of 5, as the 'phone system was a five line
1-A-2. The switch would do exactly the things
that picking up the handset would do, but it put a
resistor across the line to keep it off hook, and a
couple of (large) capacitors fed an input on the
board. No Mix-Minus, no mic to 'phone line
either! The op. used the handset for two-way
conversations. It was primative, but it
worked.
One day the man from the 'phone
company came and saw it, and immediately began
tearing it out. I spoke thw word
"Carterphone", he turned beet red and put it all
back! A very early victory for broadcasting.
The pix also show the Tapecaster cart
machines. I specified them. The Collins
machines were no end of trouble, and were costing
money with lost spots and poor sounding spots.
The Tapecasters were cheap, simple, and they
WORKED! At the same time we bought a
Tapecaster delay machine. It was in the
production room, where the record library stayed.
Was that still there too? It could record
regular carts if you didn't tell it to do delay,
which would erase the beginning of the spot as well
as the stop tone. I note a Senheizer
mic. Originally there was an RCA 77DX.
Do we know who got that? There was also a
condenser mic, complete with power supply,
etc. Nobody liked it, and so it stayed in the
shop, in its box. Even had a spare tube for
it.
Enough! I've rained
enough. I even rain a bit on myself when I
realize the potential the station had and how it was
never exploited in a manner that actually was useful
to the community. Too many Get Rich Quick, and
I Know What's Best managerial people, ane too few
real broadcaters with a feel for North Jersey as a
place near to, but separate and apart from New York
City. The metropolitan atmosphere, but with a
semi rural flavor. It could still be there,
had some people with vision had the money and
insight to capitalize on it.
Saw the WNNJ spread on the
link. Is the AM still there at 1360?
Shocked to see that Clearchannel even wants the
little ones. They have about a third of the
Tucson stations, and a similar number of Phoenix,
and seem to want to have them all.
More articles, courtesy of Barry
Howard and the BIG1510
website:
THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS WHAT LOCAL
BROADCASTING USED TO LOOK LIKE!
